Water

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Overview

Summary

The Middle East is one of the world’s most water-stressed regions, given its semi-arid nature, population growth and shared transboundary water resources . In addition, in Palestine in particular, water scarcity is hydro-politically induced. Since its 1967 occupation of the oPt, Israel has completely controlled our water resources and deprived us of access to an equitable and reasonable share of transboundary shared water, in violation of international law. Instead, Israel has used our water resources for its illegal settlements and meeting the demands of its growing population (natural and immigrants) , forcing our communities to purchase water from the Israeli company at high commercial prices.

Water Consumption

Palestine’s water resources are all water shared with Israel mainly, and other neighboring countries. Palestine does not have any endogenous water resources. The first include:

Surface water, including the Jordan River and Wadi Gaza,

Groundwater resources, as aquifers, underlying the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

At present, Israel exploits over 90 percent of all transboundary water resources for exclusive Israeli use, and allocates less than 10 per cent for Palestinian use. This comes despite the fact that the great majority of the areas where the various aquifer basins are fed, or “recharged,” lie within Palestine.

As a result, each Palestinian receives an average of less 73 liters per capita per day for domestic purposes, versus 300 liters per capita per day for an average Israeli. On average, we survive on less than the minimum requirement of 100 liters per day per capita recommended by the World Health Organization.

Israeli Control of Water

Since 1967, Israel has assumed control over all our water resources, thus depriving us of our right to access and use of one of our essential natural resources. Discriminatory measures adopted by the Israeli authorities include:

Restricting our drilling of new water wells (especially in the Western Basin)

Restricting our pumping or deepening of existing wells

Denying us access to the Jordan River

Restricting our access to areas with fresh water springs

Limiting our ability to utilize runoff water (i.e. harvesting flash flood water from major valleys)

Limiting our ability to develop water and sewage infrastructure

At the same time, wells for Israeli settlements, a few of which are strategically located over areas characterized by high groundwater potential, are approved without delay and routinely drilled. Due to high pumping rates, these wells often dry up more shallow Palestinian wells located in the area. In the absence of access to any other water resource, our communities have no option but to purchase water, at a high cost, from the Israeli water company, that ironically pumps the water from the aquifers underlying the West Bank.

Israel’s inquitable use of our water resources continued uninterrupted during the Oslo negotiations. This is supported by the fact that today Palestinians have access to less water quantities than prior to the signing of the 1996 Interim Oslo Agreement- with current water availability at 98 MCM as compared to 118 MCM. Meanwhile, our population has doubled since the signing of the Oslo agreement, meaning that the water available to us, per capita, has fallen dramatically.

During the pre-Oslo period in which Israel was solely responsible for water-related issues in the oPt, Israel failed to invest adequately in water and wastewater infrastructure to serve our communities. Since the signing of the Interim Agreement, Israel has consistently used the veto power to prevent us from undertaking projects designed to develop groundwater resources and wastewater treatment plants in the West Bank.

In addition to utilizing a disproportionate amount of water, Israeli settlements have caused significant environmental damage. Settlers discharge domestic, agricultural and industrial wastewater and solid wastes into nearby valleys without treatment. Polluting industries, such as aluminum and plastics, as well as waste disposal sites, have been transferred into the West Bank, particularly over the past 20 years as environmental controls in Israel have tightened. These practices threaten the quality of the groundwater and the surface water resources shared by the two parties.

Israel draws water from Lake Tiberias (Sea of Galilee) and transports it out of the Jordan River Basin to coastal cities and the Naqab (Negev) Desert through the National Water Carrier. The amount of water diverted (about 440 to 600 MCM/yr) is such that no natural water flows naturally out of Lake Tiberias, to the lower part of the Jordan River. This is one of the main reasons for the decrease in the water level of the Dead Sea.

The availability of fresh water has decreased markedly on a per capita basis since the 1995 Interim Agreement.

The per capita consumption of water in Israel is over four times greater than that in the oPt.

The groundwater in Gaza is in a state of crisis, due to massive Israeli pumping from large wells surrounding Gaza, by over-pumping inside Gaza in re action to Israeli imposed water scarcity, and due to contamination resulting from the forgoing two factors and the Gaza Strip’s dearth of waste processing capacity. As a result, 95 percent of the water is non-drinkable. Around 60 percent of diseases in the Gaza Strip result from poor water quality. According to the World Bank and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) reports, only five to ten percent of drinking-water wells in Gaza are suitable for the provision of safe drinking water. At its present rate of deterioration, the southern end of the coastal aquifer is expected to collapse by 2020.

Customary international water law guides, informs, governs, and controls the water rights of the parties. Principles include those identified in the Helsinki Rules on the Uses of the Waters of International Rivers of 1966 and the 1997 United Nations (UN) Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses.

The reliance of Palestine on international law is of critical importance, as the Palestinian case in all facets of the negotiations must be both defensible and consistent

Under customary international water law, the principle of “equitable and reasonable” allocation of water among the two or more parties that share transboundary watercourses, will generate a fair and stable structure within which the Parties can establish a respectful and constructive relationship, in the future

The right to water and sanitation is a human right. The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has noted: “The human right to water is indispensable for leading a life in human dignity. It is a prerequisite for the realization of other human rights.” Palestinians – i.e., the individual people – enjoy human rights

The attainment of water rights and the equitable and reasonable allocation of water are required for a successful two-state solution and future political stability in the region. Water issues are linked to, and impact numerous other issues to be negotiated, including borders, settlements, economic relations and refugees, among others.

We must have control over and access to our water resources. We accept the principle of international water law stipulating that both Israel and Palestine are entitled to an equitable and reasonable allocation of shared freshwater resources, both groundwater and surface water resources. We further uphold the other two key principles of customary international water law– no significant harm; and prior notification. We strongly believe that solution to the water issue must be just & sustainable over time requiring appropriate monitoring and management regime